Abstract:
The objective of this thesis was to study the interpretation of women in the Indian movie Kahaani. The scope is to analyze 1) the content/story 2) the narrative style of the movie and 3) the interpretation of women in the movie. The researcher adopted W.Fishers theory of story-telling and content analysis methodology. The research was done by studying the story outline and sequence of events from the Thai translation of English subtitles; reviewing of literature; collecting data from questioning 11 sample audience members in a group discussion; and interviewing of individual participants. The results show that the movie interprets the meaning of women in contrasting pairs, which are a unique characteristic of this movie, as follows: 1. The being of Indian woman is not directly conveyed in the leading heroine, but is reflected using opposites. This means that the leading heroine used the disadvantage and weakness of women in creating a new self. 2. There is weakness and, at the same time, strength. The weakness shown in the leading heroine is the weakness caused by her loss of loved ones. This changed into strength, by using weakness as a tool to gain strength, which made her stand up and fight, instead of being obsessed by sadness. 3. Women are actually more powerful under the power of men. This indicates the womens role of leader and her power is hidden under the power of men. The movie, on one hand, shows mens mistake and their loss of leadership that makes the controller submissive , and praises womens capability.